Wavy Gravy

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Wavy Gravy (born Hugh Romney on May 15, 1936) is a life-long activist for peace and personal empowerment, best known for his hippie appearance, personality, and beliefs. His moniker (which is the name he uses on a day-to-day basis: "It's worked pretty well through my life," he says, "except with telephone operators – I have to say 'Gravy, first initial W." [1]) was given to him by B.B. King at the Texas Pop Festival while he lay onstage incapacitated by a high dosage of LSD. King asked if he was alright, to which the soon-to-be-renamed Romney replied, "I've melted into a wavy pool of gravy." King reassured him, "That's okay, you just stay there and be wavy gravy on the floor while I sing my songs!" For reasons perhaps only fully understood by him, Romney considered this a mystical event and permanently assumed Wavy Gravy as his legal name. [2]

Wavy Gravy's clown persona grew out of his political activism. Constantly being arrested at demonstrations, he decided he would be less likely to be busted if he dressed as a clown. "Clowns are safe," as he put it. He does however enjoy traditional clown duties such as jokes, magic tricks and entertaining children. He is also the "official clown" of the Grateful Dead.[3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents 1 Early Life 2 "My God, they made us the cops" 3 The Hog Farm today 3.1 Camp Winnarainbow 3.2 The Hog Farm Pig-Nic 3.3 Nobody's Business 4 Quotes 5 Quotes about Wavy Gravy 6 Selected works 6.1 Books 6.2 Audio 6.3 Video 7 Trivia 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Early Life

His parents knew Albert Einstein. The Nobel Prize winning physicist once held his hand and took him for a walk around the block when he was small. Romney was educated at William Hall High School in West Hartford, Connecticut. His early career was managed by Lenny Bruce, and Romney was also one of Bob Dylan's earliest friends in New York City.

[edit] "My God, they made us the cops"

During the first Woodstock Festival Wavy Gravy and fellow members of the Hog Farm Collective were put in charge of security.^{[citation needed]} Wavy called his rather unorthodox group the "Please Force," a reference to their non-intrusive tactics at keeping order ("please don't do that, please do this instead"). When asked by the press — who were the first to inform him that he and the rest of the Hog Farm were handling security — what kind of tools he intended to use to maintain order at the event, his instant response was "Cream pies and seltzer bottles,..." (both being traditional clown props; he may have been referring to the silent film era Keystone Kops in particular), in Wavy's words: "...they all wrote it down and I thought, 'The power of manipulating the media', ah ha!".[7]

Wavy Gravy has been the M.C. of, and the only person to appear on the bill of, all three Woodstock Festivals.

[edit] The Hog Farm today

[edit] Camp Winnarainbow

Wavy Gravy created a circus-skills and self-empowerment school/summer camp called Camp Winnarainbow located in Laytonville, California, at the 700 acre (2.8 km²) Black Oak Ranch, the same site as the Annual "Kate Wolf" and "Earthdance" festivals. This multidisciplinary school/summer camp started as a day-care arrangement for children of sufi parents, but now it is partly run by graduates of the Winnarainbow program. Activities include everything from improv to stiltwalking, unicycling, juggling, songwriting and didgeridoo playing.

Camp Winnarainbow gives pupils a sense of grace and humor that they can take back into the world with them.

[edit] The Hog Farm Pig-Nic

The Hog Farm Family Pig-Nic was an annual music and culture festival held at the Black Oak Ranch. The concert is no longer being held there, however the "Kate Wolf Festival" and Earthdance", are held on the Black Oak Ranch on a yearly basis. Dr. Timothy Leary made one of his last appearances at this event.

[edit] Nobody's Business

Just across the road from the Hog Farm, Wavy Gravy has established the store "Nobody's Business," reminiscent of his "Nobody for President" campaign -- as in "who's in Washington right now working to make the world a safer place? Nobody!", "Nobody's Perfect," "Nobody Keeps All Promises," "Nobody Should Have That Much Power," etc. (His late pet pig was named Nobody)

[edit] Quotes

• "We are all the same person trying to shake hands with our self."
• "The 90's are the 60's standing on their head."
• "What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000!" (the introduction of granola at Woodstock — an urgent fix for a desperate situation)
• "A lot of the kids who are running Camp Winnarainbow now started as campers when they were seven. They can usually do it on a unicycle while juggling three balls. We curry both hemispheres of the brain. In school, kids learn numbers and letters; we teach timing and balance, which I think is equally important — without competition, except with yourself."
• "...kids will do anything if they can stay up later than other kids, even sit with a straight back and watch their breath." (about meditation at Winnarainbow)

[edit] Quotes about Wavy Gravy

• "This wise clown of compassion is a genuine mahatma of the Cosmic Giggle." - Ram Dass [8]

• "Wavy Gravy is the illegitimate son of Harpo Marx and Mother Teresa." - Paul Krassner

[edit] Selected works

[edit] Books

• The Hog Farm and Friends (1974; Links; ISBN 0-8256-3014-2)
• Something Good for a Change: Random Notes on Peace Thru Living (1992; St Martins; ISBN 0-312-07838-2)

[edit] Audio

• "Third Stream Humor" early 60s, World Pacific (by Hugh Romney)
• 80s are the 60s (2002; RX Records)

[edit] Video

Wavy Gravy's 70th Birthday Bash

This film was shot and edited by Wavy's son and documents Wavy's 70th Birthday party in Berkeley.

[edit] Trivia

• Ben and Jerry's ice cream have named a flavor in honor of Wavy Gravy. It's been discontinued.
• The cartoon strip, "Smokey Stover" often had a sign hanging on the fire-house wall that read "Scram Gravy Ain't Wavy."
• Wavy Gravy's first appearance at an event in the Neo-Pagan community was at the WinterStar Symposium in 1998 with Paul Krassner[9]. He appeared there again in 2000 with Phyllis Curott, where he joined Rev. Ivan Stang in a joint ritual of the Church of the SubGenius and his Church of the Cosmic Giggle.
• At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's 60s psychedelic tribute "I Want To Take You Higher"[10], Wavy Gravy's sleeping bag and tie-dyed false teeth were displayed. He and Paul Krassner appeared there on the last day of the exhibit on February 28th, 1998.

[edit] See also

• Clown
• Grateful Dead
• The Hog Farm
• The Seva foundation - a worldwide charitable group of which Wavy Gravy is a prominent supporter and director, and which helps to fund sight-saving surgery to people in so-called 'developing nations'

[edit] External links

• Wavy Gravy Homepage
• Camp Winnarainbow Website
• Country Joe & the Fish Website
• Wavy Gravy video from Seventh Hour Blues
• Nobody for President